The Color of the Passionate and Passionless
by Calico45
Summary: Cardverse. Haruhi Fujioka, a young citizen of Hearts and the daughter of a dressmaker lives a very typical, very fulfilling life. The one thing is that she is passionless and while this would disturb most citizens of Hearts, she is generally fine with it. However, her passionless life is about to get mixed up in a very big way when she takes one dress delivery lightly.
1. Prologue

The Color of the Passionate and Passionless

Prologue

Red, red, red. Everyday, everything and _everyone_ was red in the Kingdom of Hearts. Sure, there were tints of pink here and there, maybe a magenta looking a little too purple to be safe, but it was all undoubtedly _red_ in Hearts. It was to the point that no one even questioned, cared, or, chances are, noticed anymore. What would be the proper word, monotonous? Yes, _monotonous_ summed it up perfectly, especially in the mind of one Hearts citizen in particular. To most, using the word "monotonous" to describe anything relating to the country of beautiful, lovely red would be betrayal, but not to Haruhi Fujioka. She, unlike how she viewed the rest of Hearts and the rest of Hearts viewed her, was a realist.

Now, the realist she was, she did not have anything in particular against the _monotony_ itself. In fact, she thrived in it. Monotony meant predictability, even with people that should be anything but. The problem lied wherein these predictable yet unpredictable people failed to recognize their own monotony. Preoccupied in their own delusions, they saw each red thing as if it were a color brand new to their eyes and the very world itself. That was clearly a lie because everything in Hearts was undoubtedly red, red, red. That made the realist wonder that if this monotony was really not such a bad thing, then why did people have to lie to themselves about it?

As for an answer, well, she had none. Not to this very day at least, and while she pulled it to the back of her mind and wore her red clothes, submerged in a world of suffocating red, she could not help but hate the color a little more every time she saw it. Strangely enough, though this hate was undoubtedly hate, it was a passionless hate. As hate is supposed to be a passion, it resembled more apathy than anything, but that was because it was very much _hate_. Red was supposed to be passionate, and to hate the passionate what is required is apathy rather than passion. This very passionless hate for the color red, though now merely subconscious, consumed her life and any passion she may have ever held.

Now this may sound horrible to many, and it certainly terrified her fellow citizens of Hearts though they had no clue of how severe her passionless was, but her passionless life was not a bad one. After all, a life without passion is not a life without emotion. Quite the opposite really. She had quite a full range of emotions, from sadness to anger, happiness to jealousy, frustration to satisfaction, restlessness to exhaustion; the list went on. Simply said, she led a very full life for a young girl without her passions. She did not even lack goals. Goals are normally seen as ambitions for the passionate, but that is not always so. Her goals were practical for the passionless. Simple things really: plans to be self-sufficient, get a house, get married, have children, etc. So she did have goals, merely logical and passionless ones, that set her apart from the other girls of Hearts that had goals of love. Speaking of love, it is a rather tricky thing when it comes to the passionless realist.

The main issue with love is quite simple: love is a passion, much like hate. However, unlike her passionless hate, she cannot get around this with love so easily. After all, love, for another person or anything else, would no doubt have to be a passion. If it were not, it simply would not be love anymore. It might even be morphed into a degree of hate. At most times this perfectly suited the realistic maiden, but on rare occasions it did not. One of these rare occasions regarded her parents. Her father was very much a regular citizen of Hearts. His flamboyant ways made him an ideal example of all the good, bad, and monotonous of Hearts. Even so, he was dear to her, as much as her late mother who had both been a regular and irregular citizen of Hearts. When she realized that her passionless and thus loveless life meant that she could not possibly love them the thought terrorized her. She had never cared much that should would never fall in love romantically, but the fact, the mere possibility even, that she could not love at all, even her family, disturbed her.

In all honesty, she never got over this. A guilt she could never shake was continuously nursed in her heart, but she lived on with her smile. Though she may never love them, she could take a little solace in knowing that she would give as close to love as she could get to them and knowing that they were the one exception that she wished she could change about her passionless life. Even if it was not enough, it had to be. She had no more to give, even if no one else was any the wiser in her world of passionate red.

Little did she know that this world of red, red, red was about to shatter into more pieces than she could ever count, much less collect and repair. This shattering, while indeed very sudden, did have warning signs. Signs she simply missed. In retrospect, the cracks developing in her world seem so very obvious, but at that moment in time all it was to Haruhi was a dress delivery, turned a little odd, just like all the others.

After all, as the daughter of a not so humble dressmaker that owned a not so humble dress shop that did humble business she supported her family in any way she could, including becoming the normal delivery girl. As the delivery girl, she met all sorts of people, those that she was grateful and not so grateful she had met, and found more excitement than she probably ever should have in her passionless life. That was why when her dress delivery took her to the Castle of Hearts she was not concerned in the least. If anything really, she was more annoyed with the inefficiently long walk she had to take solely within the castle and impressed, as well as slightly startled, by the guards' relaxed security.

She had started that day in her hometown. It was not a small town, but not truly a city either by the name of Roseland. From there she had to travel to the very capital of all Hearts, Heart of Vermillion. It was no simple walk, for sure, but the capital was travelling distance from Roseland. Though it would eat up all of her day, Haruhi could leave at dawn and make it home just after dark. Her father had assured her that it was an awfully important client, and even if it had not been, Haruhi would have made the journey anyway. She knew nothing more of the client, or even the dress that was tightly packaged to prevent any damage, except that her father worked very hard and that this dress was one of the rather expensive ones. Still, that mattered not. At her age she had yet to have been to the capital, much less alone, and a scenic walk through it appealed to both her curiosity and practical senses. Heart of Vermillion was a thriving place that would be a good place to live in the future to her knowledge.

At the very least, she had no problems with that bit of the journey. Her frustrations only began after she reached the castle. Though she had not been shocked by this development in her day, she could tell at the start of it that this delivery was going to be one of the taxing ones. Chances were, if she was delivering to the very castle that contained the royalty of Hearts then she was delivering to a spoiled brat or diva of sorts. Those types tended to shoot the messenger or the delivery girl, on top of the fact that she would not be all too happy to hear insults flung at her father's hard work. She supposed the money would be worth it to sustain the family business, but they had a pride as a business, as artists, and as people to worry about as well.

Even without this worry, she had a bit of a dilemma. Not only did she not know the name of owner of the dress she was delivering, but she had no idea how to navigate the castle, no thanks to the guards that had just shooed her inside. So she had to scrutinize every detail of the endless red gardens, red rooms, and red hallways. She knew that the red rose, often called the vermillion rose, was the national flower, but the castle was full of them. They grew absolutely everywhere. There was not a single garden or a lone room without a living rose, either rooted to the ground or in a vase. Even the artwork was lavished in countless roses. The red walls and ceilings had carved roses as ornamental decoration. Needless to say, everything was her most favorite color as well. She had to admit, though, that this castle did actually have some hues of red she had never seen, even as the child of a dressmaker. That was impressive, but the admiration did not last.

As expected, she quickly became lost. She had not seen a single person since the guards so she had been left to wander on her own with the packaged dress clutched tightly to her chest. By the time she had realized how hopelessly lost she was she had decided that even that people who lived here could not possibly know the entire layout of this place. Not only was it massive, but it was made like a maze apparently, she convinced herself. Perhaps it should be noted that it was quite easily done as well, and not simply by way of her amazing charisma.

"Why hello there, my lady."

The words, more of the sound of them, sent her spinning to look behind her. She was in one of those awkward halls that she was not sure even was a hall at all because it was outside. Instead of windows there were gaps in the stone walls that looked out into the gardens on the side, but she had walked through a door that had taken here from inside. However, these details quickly faded to the back of her mind as she sought the voice she had heard, or hoped she heard. This would be her first real detection of life in this castle, and it was about time. Maybe she would even be lucky enough to come across a servant that would finish her delivery for her after pointing to the exit. She could only dream, especially as she started to believe that her desperate mind had conjured the voice on its own.

"You are lovelier than any rose in this garden—no, this castle—this world!"

Okay, there was no way her mind could come up with anything so cheesy. Her chocolate eyes darted over every inch of the hallway before she desperately started scanning the gardens. By a sheer miracle she caught sight of someone, in all red, in front of a red rose bush in the second garden she searched. Naturally she was relieved, but as she took her first step through the gap into the garden she froze. She could not help but feel cautious all of a sudden. She had no idea why at first, but then it hit her: he was rattling off pickup lines to a rose bush. This took talking to plants to make them grow to a whole new level and it made Haruhi wonder just who she had found and if she should leave before he found her.

"Be mine, my darling, and I will be your knight in shining armor and never let you go." the mysterious man continued, stretching out his hand to the rosebush as if it would reach out and take it, "Ah, a love as pure as ours will never falter."

By this point, Haruhi was getting chills. Debilitating ones. She was torn between running away and just yelling for him to make it stop. Whatever delusion or lucid dream this weirdo was in she did not want to see, much less become a part of. She was fearful, however, that no matter what she did the latter was unavoidable. Plus, even if she did run, what would she do if she just went in a giant circle and ended up right back here? Maybe Mr. Crazy was a little more grounded when it came to directions and not rosebushes. She supposed that was plausible and it was not like any option was very good at the moment.

"My love, I cherish you more than—"

"Hey!"

"GYAHHH!"

_Crash_!

Haruhi's eye twitched as she surveyed the damage of the surprised man leaping into the rosebush he apparently cherished so much and getting caught up in as many thorny vines as possible. She was beginning to believe his love was one sided.

"Hey, sorry about that." she apologized over his moans, whines, and cries within the bush, "But I am completely lost in here and I thought maybe you would know the way."

It was the first time she had a really good look at the odd man, who actually looked to be a teenager. He had purple eyes, currently watery with tears, and bright blond hair. He seemed as if he would have been rather clean and possibly even good looking if he had not been thrust into dirt and scratched more times than the two of them could probably count. A particular scratch on his cheek stood out, one that had long past beaded with bright red blood that was now starting to roll down his face. If nothing else, he did truly look in pain, and it finally occurred to her that maybe she should apologize more seriously.

"Are you okay? Let me help you out at least and then we can find someone to help us, if you are not as hopelessly lost as me." she suggested, taking the lead before he had time to answer by reaching out her hand.

Despite not a word leaving his mouth, he took her hand without hesitation. She smiled apologetically before doing not much more than ripping him out of the clutches of his previous lover. She heard the rips before she saw them, but once he was free and standing in front of her she saw just how much damage the thorns had done. Not only was he scratched and bleeding all over, but his clothes had numerous tears. He had dived in face first and then struggled like a captured wild animal, so it did make sense, but it did little to ease her guilt, especially as she subconsciously started counting the thorns still buried in both his clothes and skin.

"So, there would not happen to be a medical professional in this place, would there?" she asked with a nervous chuckle.

"There is a doctor here, but I do not know where." the man admitted with a face and voice that was contorting more and more with a pout as he spoke, "But it is not like I could really walk there anyway if I did."

Haruhi felt each word feeding her guilt, "I guess you are right. I really am sorry. It might not be much, but I can help you get the thorns out if you would like."

The blond man actually contemplated it this time and before he finished a quick flash of horror went through his still watery eyes. Despite this, he nodded slowly shortly after it was gone. That was more than enough to tell Haruhi that she had to get it over with before he could change his mind, and she set straight to work pulling out any thorns she saw, occasionally giving a warning _while _she was pulling out one that looked deep. Pretty much without fail each thorn elicited a yelp or a cry of some sort, and she was sure that at least one tear had gone down his cheek by now, but she did not comment and just tried to make the process faster. As much as she had tried, due to the sheer number of thorns, she had no doubt taken a while.

She sighed with relief, "I think that was the last one. You can celebrate now."

She doubted he would do much celebrating, as wounded as he was. If anything he needed to see a doctor as soon as he could. The last thing he needed was for his scratches to get infected.

"It may still hurt, but we really need to find that doctor—"

Haruhi's words died on her tongue as she watched the wounded man, without a doubt still bleeding, get down on one knee to take her hand before placing a chaste kiss to it and then looking back up to her. He was clearly going to saw something, but he did not get the chance.

"I will not be the rebound of a rosebush!" she roared, ripping away her contaminated hand and using the very thing to slap him hard enough that he completely fell to the ground.

Admittedly, she felt bad that she hit a wounded man, on his bleeding cheek no less, but her first and main priority was putting some space between her and this weirdo. She had certainly not forgotten that he might have been dangerous and the fact that his blood and saliva was now staining her hand felt quite disturbing in a contamination sort of way. She actually almost touched the dress's packing with her hand before realizing it in a bit of a flail, and though she doubted the buyer would be able to see the difference in reds she did not want to get anyone infected.

"Owie, what did you do that for!?" the man groaned from the ground, "I was thanking you."

"Then say 'thank you very much' like normal people!" Haruhi growled, still a little shaken up from it all.

"I was just about to, before you hit me." he whined, now at least sitting on the grass and tears freely flowing, "B-b-but y-you—WAH!"

Haruhi was taken aback for a moment at how childlike this person was. It made her wonder for a split second if this really was the weirdo she saw earlier trying to woo a bush. Odd romance with plants, pouting, tears, clumsiness, contamination, it all was not adding up to be a single, congealing person. Maybe he had a mental disorder for all she knew. Yeah, that sounded good. Still, that was all the more reason to get him to the closest doctor, and his little fit certainly was not helping.

"Hey, I am sorry, really." she consoled, taking a hopefully comforting step forward because she was not going to take another, "You just surprised me. You cannot do that to people you just met. I mean, we do not even know each other's names—I am Haruhi by the way."

"I am Tamaki." he sniffed, eyeing her suspiciously, "Do you really mean that?"

"You bet. You scared me quite a bit." she insisted, "But come on, we have to find that doctor. I mean, we both are lost in here, right?"

There was an odd sheen in Tamaki's eyes, "But what about my clothes?"

"C-clothes?" she muttered, suddenly even more nervous than before though she quickly pushed past it, "Oh, your clothes. You _really_ are worrying about that right now?"—She sighed—"Well, it is kind of my fault so I will fix them. I do not have my things with me and I may not look like it, but I am the daughter of a dressmaker. That is actually why I am here. I am delivering"—she motioned to the parcel—"this dress and got lost before I found anyone to give me directions. Once we find a doctor, I deliver this, and I have a minute to buy some thread and a needle, or better yet if you let me take them back to my shop, I can fix your clothes right up."

That odd sheen was back in Tamaki's now red eyes as he sat silently. It took Haruhi a moment to come to the conclusion that he was thinking and the more she looked at him the more she felt she could see the wheels turning in his mind.

"Renge had ordered a dress, hadn't she?" Tamaki muttered lowly, too low at least for Haruhi to hear.

"What did you say?"

Suddenly, he bolted upright from the ground. He was smiling now, even in his red, puffy eyes. He marched confidently over to her, his smile not wavering at all.

"Come my lady, we have a dress to deliver." he commanded, once more grabbing her contaminated hand but this time dragging her by it.

Haruhi, for the first time that day, was too stunned to struggle. All she could do was look at his back and the clothes that she would no doubt be fixing later. It had not occurred to her earlier, but his clothes looked expensive. Quite expensive actually. The material looked like one of those that her father used for only certain dresses. While she contemplated this she analyzed her memories, trying to remember what his clothes had looked like pre rose bush. While doing that, the image of his face when she saw his cheek bleeding for the first time got stuck in her mind. She had not noticed earlier, but right under that cheek, where a drop of red blood had fell, was an emblem she knew she had seen before. She simply could not place it. The country's emblem? It looked similar, but it was different. A soldier's emblem? Not that either. For the life of her she could not figure it out, but her mind kept telling her that it was important. And that was when it hit her. The emblem. This idiot was the Prince of Hearts.


	2. Chapter 1

The Color of the Passionate and Passionless

Chapter 1, Shady Yellow

"You can keep it if you would like."

The words, as soft as the silk in her dainty hands, barely registered in her mind at first. However, their meaning slowly seeped into her brain and brought a tiny, gratifying smile to her face. Still, she was cautious. She had never met this man before in her life, not even his color.

"I—I can?"

Her chocolate eyes finally were pried away from the cloth in her hands, though with some difficulty, so that she could catch any hint of deception in the man before her. This nameless man was odd to say the least. He had spiky orange hair and yellow eyes, not that she was not used to seeing different eye and hair colors every day. The color that had truly shocked her was the color of his clothes. They were a far more brilliant yellow than his eyes and that was strange because everything in the Kingdom of Hearts was red, especially the clothes.

"Of course."

She had met him by accident, apparently yet another in a now series of accidental meetings since her first visit to the Castle of Hearts, when she was making a delivery. She had collided into him by chance and though curt apologies should have been the beginning and ending of their meeting, fate had other ideas. This poor girl by the name of Haruhi Fujioka became just another one of fate's puppets when this mysterious man dropped a handkerchief. Being the diligent girl she was, Haruhi had originally been only concerned with the tasks of her employment as a dress shop delivery girl, but the moment her eyes caught sight of the handkerchief's vivid color she was ensnared. She had meant merely to return it to the gentleman she had hit, but before she knew it all she could do was stare at the _yellow_ cloth. Everything in Hearts was red—except this handkerchief. It was the one exception to the rule, and that, to her, made it beautiful. Beautiful enough that her desiring heart was exposed to a stranger, one clearly not from Hearts. However, no part of her could doubt the kindness of a man that gave her such beauty.

"Thank you."

She could have never predicted that this would happen when her day had started. Although she knew _something _odd had to be going to happen, it always did when she had a delivery to the castle, she could in no way have even conjured the color of the cloth she now possessed. In fact, it was about as predictable as the whole reason she was in this mess in the first place.

Her deliveries to the Castle of Hearts began because of the random whim of a teenage girl, in all actuality. Not hers of course, but the daughter of the Jack of Hearts that she later learned went by the name of Renge. That first delivery to the castle gave her the misfortune of meeting the crown prince of Hearts himself, Tamaki Heart, who she found out had a thing for both rosebushes and falling into them, since it was apparently a common occurrence. Ever since then one of two never failed to request a clothing delivery from her father's shop at least every two weeks. Haruhi believed that they merely wanted to toy with her, especially when the prince requested that her father, a dressmaker by heart and design, make him pants and shirts. Business was business, but if he would not wear a dress, then he should not be ordering from their shop in her opinion. Still, what truly annoyed her was his casual attitude. Whenever she visited, delivery in hand, he always had some tea prepared and snacks laid out. If it was not tea time with him, and sometimes Renge, it would be some childish game that he wanted to play. A favorite of his was hide and seek, though it was naturally her least favorite since the Castle of Hearts was an endless, red maze. She neither had the desire nor the time for either, and always said as such, but more often than not he got his way by some strange sequence of events that never ceased to plague her at the exact moment it needed to. Then there was the bribery. That was something that once the prince learned it worked, it became his specialty. In fact, that was namely why there were snacks in the first place: expensive, exotic, and ones she could have never possibly have seen or obtained elsewhere.

Still, as much as it pained her to admit it to herself sometimes, she did not truly hate neither Renge nor even Tamaki. They were kind to her, in their own little ways, at least. Selfish and spoiled indeed, but far kinder than they very well could have been. However, she never once wanted to bridge the gap between them with the friendship she knew at least Tamaki desired so much. Call her a realist, but a simple citizen such as herself and royalty such as them had no business with friendship. They lived in two totally opposite worlds with an unstable bridge between them solely meant for a single person to cross at a time. If more than one person tried to cross, meet in the middle, or a single person just stopped on the bridge, it would collapse. That was because if they were truly to interact one would have to pass into the other's world and that was near impossible and not desired. For Haruhi to pass into their world she would either have to become Tamaki's queen or jack. She knew at least one position was going to be taken up by Renge, and because of their long history together she assumed that it was the position as the jack. However, even if she could have become the jack, she had no desire to cross the bridge. She was happy in her world as a simple citizen, as red as it was, and she had no plans to change it. For Tamaki or Renge, on the other hand, to cross into the world of commoners was near impossible. Tamaki, being an only child, could only be prevented from taking the throne by death or revolution. Renge could possibly not be chosen as either queen or jack, but she would not fall so far as commoner. She would be some sort of nobility and marry in with some of the other former royalty in the capital.

Haruhi had honestly tried to express this well-reasoned argument beginning from her second delivery on, but eventually she got to the point of not even bothering anymore. Each meeting with Tamaki further confirmed her assumption that reason did not work with this man. Besides making her fear for her country's future, it merely served to frustrate her. As such, she abandoned it and the negative emotions it caused. If she let everything that Tamaki did eat away at her she would never be able to enjoy her peaceful life, lest make it to her golden years. That was the only way she could handle her deliveries to the Castle of Hearts. She had to take everything in stride in the hopes that maybe the two would find a new toy in due time. Though she both hoped and doubted, she continued to make every delivery with at least a smile on her face in the beginning.

In fact, today had been just the same. When she left home for the capital, Heart of Vermillion, she had been smiling. She did truly like the capital. Its hustle and bustle fit her diligent, working lifestyle perfectly and she believed it would make a great home in the future. It was also beautiful, in both architecture and landscaping. The only thing she could have done without is so much red, which was inescapable in Hearts. The only other thing she was looking forward to was the prince's usual bribery. He had learned quickly that while money motivated her, merely money she felt she earned would she accept, and jewels did not have the same effect on her as they did Renge. In a fit of desperation he discovered her secret gluttony and had used it against her since. It was now and old, but still affective, trick.

She had no clue what was in her sealed package, or even whether it was for Tamaki or Renge for that matter. All she had to know that it was to be delivered to the Castle of Hearts and the two waiting for her would sort it out there, as always. This was a game to them anyway, she was still convinced. If she showed up without a package at all she did not doubt that they would pay the fee and then progress with whatever Tamaki had planned for her that day. Whenever she began to think of it that way she always began to feel as though she herself was being rented and it admittedly left a bitter taste in her mouth, but business was business.

It was actually during one of those bitter moments in her mind that she had rammed into the man in yellow. She had been so preoccupied that his clothing color did not catch her eye until the handkerchief dropped right on the ground in front of her. She had even forgot her package in the moment her eyes fell on the yellow cloth, though she did not drop it. It was certainly a scene to behold. And that is exactly what happened.

Little did she know at the time, but her interactions with the man in yellow were being observed from afar by no one other than the prince of Hearts. He knew both more and less than either of the actors before him. For one, he knew that this yellow man was the prince of Diamonds who had come to the castle with his father to observe the discussion between both the kings, as Tamaki was expected to do as well. He also knew about Haruhi, her purpose for being there and her personal qualities. However, what he did not know was what had been said and how the actors felt. It is here where another fatal flaw lies. There were two princes of Diamonds: the crown prince, Hikaru, and the second prince, Kaoru, which were identical twins. He had not a clue which one stood before him, but either one's identity truly did not matter in his mind. What mattered was the nature of this scene, which he determined rather early on to be romantic. Without the insight into their minds, much less the words, he would never truly know, but he could assume and he did. He assumed with everything in him and for the first time he felt the bitterness for Diamonds he had often heard was so common with citizens of Hearts. His father even was guilty of such bitterness, and had tried to explain the rivalry of the red blooded in the past. At the time it had been for naught, but now, maybe now, the prince could grasp such a concept as the instinctual bitterness between Diamonds and Hearts.

It is a difficult thing to predict, to say the least, but as Tamaki gazed upon Haruhi's secret smile, still there after the prince of Diamonds had long left as she stared at the yellow cloth, he believed he could understand. He believed he could understand that and more at that moment. As much as he wanted to go out and greet Haruhi he restrained himself. He had to have Renge go get the delivery today. He had been dreading it earlier, but now he wanted to do nothing more than observe the discussion between the two kings in the castle today. If he was lucky, he would even be able to exchange a few words with the princes. Still, the one thing he wanted to do more than anything was snatch away that yellow cloth that made Haruhi smile so, though he knew it was one of the few things he simply could not do, chances were, ever. What a shady man, that prince of Diamonds was.


	3. Chapter 2

The Color of the Passionate and Passionless

Chapter 2, Buttons, Scapegoats, and Girlfriends?

What a sight to behold, and a sight it was. The Prince of Hearts might have thought he had seen it all that day, but Haruhi was sure she had. Being the astute, diligent girl she was, her little quibble with the man in yellow did not sidetrack for all that long. With her package in hand and her yellow gift tucked away securely she had set out to finish the delivery she started. That was until she found Renge. She was not sure whether it was just a character trait of the royalty of Hearts, or maybe just that of their children, but the scene unfolding before her reminded her all too well of her first meeting with Tamaki. And quite frankly, it made her uncomfortable.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

Renge was barking. At air no less. Haruhi had been so taken aback that she actually had to do a double take, which only confirmed that it was indeed Renge. The young woman with light brown hair and dark amber eyes, no older than Haruhi herself, pivoted about the hallway making sure to bark in each direction. That included Haruhi's, which only confused her all the more why Renge had not acknowledged her much less stopped. Another thing that made the movement that much more confusing was Renge's clothing. The woman was known for her eccentric wardrobe which she insisted was the epitome of femininity, but that is all the more reason that they were known for restricting her movement. Haruhi's father had even explained to her exactly how tight a dress of the quality he had made hers was and that it was perfect for looking slim. As the wealthy heiress she was she was not expected to do any sort of physical labor, but even beyond that she partook in nothing athletic. From what Haruhi understood, she did not even exercise and Renge's lack of athletic wear was prime evidence. Despite that Renge was one of the most energetic people that Haruhi had ever met, which she showed in her personality and speech. She had assumed that was because Renge built up all her energy from not moving a finger, but as Haruhi watched her twist and turn like a flailing fish she was convinced it was innate to her. Now all Haruhi could wonder was why that pretty, constricting dress of hers was not busting at the seams. Until a red button shot her way like an arrow that is. Haruhi's heart skipped a beat as Renge's eyes trailed after it and landed firmly on her, the button seemingly long forgotten.

"I expect you to fix that," Renge hissed, not missing a beat, "And to forget you ever saw this."

"You never barked like a dog, got it." Haruhi confirmed, already dreading looking for the camouflaged button that landed somewhere behind her.

Renge froze at the words before launching herself inches away from Haruhi's face, "Not that, peasant, my button! You are supposed to forget about my button!"

"Your button?" Haruhi repeated in disbelief, "What about your button?"

"That it came off, of course." Renge insisted like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "What would I do if it got out that I was in public in such a state of undress, and _seen _no less? Me, more unkempt than the common rabble. Just the thought chills my heart. Why I might as well be naked without my button! The indecency for such an esteemed woman like myself."

All of this for a button? Haruhi still could not quite wrap her head around it.

"Oh, forget it!" Renge fussed, "You clearly do not get it so I will just have a _royal _tailor fix my dress."

Better than Haruhi having to do it herself she supposed. She might actually get out of the castle early today, with Renge in a mood and no sight of Tamaki. There was just one thing she had to do.

"I will forget everything and be out of your way after you accept your delivery." Haruhi assured, holding the package out for the noble woman that was finally giving her a little space.

Renge's eyes lit up, "No."

"No?" Haruhi echoed, starting to feel the least bit of frustration, "I thought you did not want me to fix your button?"

"I don't." Renge continued, her finger now swiftly pointing, "But I _do_ want you to do something. I will even go ahead and take the dress, I clearly need something else to wear after all, but you have to find Antoinette."

It is a little sad to say, but the strangest thing about that answer was not that Haruhi had no clue who Antoinette was. It was the fact that she practically said that she was going to put on the dress in Haruhi's package. After all the deliveries to the castle that Haruhi had endured she had never once seen Renge or Tamaki wear a thing she had brought. She may have not always known the exact clothing in her packages but she could always recognize her father's work. In fact, she would not have been surprised if they threw away the clothes. Angry, yes; surprised, no. And now here was Renge saying she was taking the dress because she needed something to wear. It might have been worth sticking around just to see that. Might, of course, since Haruhi highly doubted.

"Okay." Haruhi entertained, "And who exactly is Antoinette?"

"She is blonde, has brown eyes, a nice if not too nice personality, and is as close as Tamaki is ever going to get to a girlfriend." Renge listed, counting each detail off on her fingers.

Haruhi just had to ask, "We aren't talking about a rose bush here, right?"

"Of course not," Renge huffed, "Antoinette is his dog."

Well that figured.

"Are you sure she is lost? I mean, she has to be in the castle, right? She does live here so she cannot technically be missing if she is where she is supposed to be." Haruhi deduced.

Renge crossed her arms, "You don't get it, she isn't supposed to be _here_. She is supposed to be in his room. I went in there to—It doesn't matter, actually! I opened the door and she got out. Now I have looked for her all over and was even calling to her in her doggie language. If she isn't back in Tamaki's room before him someone is going to be in trouble and there is no way that is going to be me. So if you don't get her back in time I am going to say I saw you taking her."

Haruhi blinked a few times. Just how crazy was this girl?

"How exactly am I supposed to do that? I have no clue how to navigate this place, much less know where his room is."

Renge's triumphant, cocky smile nearly shattered on the floor, "Th-that doesn't matter, either! Just take her to the guards outside when you leave and say you found her wandering around outside. They will take her back."

"But that doesn't solve anything." Haruhi explained, "Let's say that I even find Antoinette and then actually find my way out of this madhouse, both of which is impossible on its own. Let's not forget that this dog doesn't know me and is a lot faster than me. For that matter, while she knows her way around this place for her own benefit she is also not a guide dog that will help me find my way, which is what you guys do whenever I leave. Now, disregarding all this, for Antoinette to be wandering around in the first place she has to have gotten out. That means that someone has to explain how she got out of his room."

Renge visibly grappled with this for a moment before Haruhi practically saw a lightbulb glow above her head, "I will just say it had to be a servant. I mean, they clean in there. There is no reason one of them did not let her out."

"What if they get in trouble?" Haruhi pushed, expecting an answer she did not want to hear.

"So what? It is not like anyone can prove it one way or the other."

Haruhi almost wanted to leave and take the wrap herself after hearing this, "So you don't care that you are scapegoating people who spend their lives making your life just that much better and might even be fired for this?"

"Oh come on." Renge rolled her eyes, "It won't be nearly as bad as long as you find Antoinette. Good luck."

Renge snatched the package from Haruhi and walked away, pausing once to grab her button. On the other hand, Haruhi herself was frozen. In the back of her mind she knew that Renge was not a bad person, but things like this made it all the harder to believe it. What was worse is that now it became apparent to Haruhi that it was all on her. Whether Renge would actually say she saw Haruhi taking Antoinette, which she did not doubt she would, or not, it was still going to be a servant's fault that Antoinette got out in the first place. That meant it was up to Haruhi to make sure that the punishment was going to be as light as possible. Her conscience would not let leave without at least looking for the dog. Now she could only hope that Antoinette surprised her and was actually a guide dog.

Haruhi sighed, "Oh Antoinette."


	4. Chapter 3

The Color of the Passionate and Passionless

Chapter 3, Red from Roses to Rubies

"Antoinette? Where are you, Antoinette?" Haruhi called out.

She had become lost in the maze of red that was the Hearts castle long ago and was beginning to understand why Renge had been desperate enough to start barking. Haruhi would herself if she had thought it would work, but her confidence preserved her dignity or at least whatever was left of it. Sure, she had noble intentions. She had set off on a quest to protect the innocent from the evil tyrant that was Renge, but a noble goal does not preserve one's dignity alone. For one, she had not seen so much as a strand of fur or even a paw print. She had to not only find the dog but get it to the guards to have any sort of impact and that just was not happening. Worse yet, she felt as though she was being outsmarted by the canine. This would have been more plausible if she had actually encountered it at least once, but it still burned that she had not even seen the thing. After all, how could she not even find the dog once? Forget catching it, but at least seeing it. Yeah, she did not have much dignity thinking about it like that.

What she did have was hope. A fleeting hope, but hope nonetheless. Perhaps finding the dog was a mere matter of luck. If so, the longer she searched the more likely it was that she would find Antoinette. That meant that even if her luck was the worst possible as long as she persisted she would still have a chance. This hope was a fleeting one because she did not have all day. The moment the sun started to set she needed to be on her way home. It was no easy feat to travel between her home and the castle and the last thing she wanted to do was spend most of the trip in the dark. Hearts might have been a nice country but Haruhi was no fool. There were people that would do horrible things everywhere and anywhere, and she had more of a chance meeting one than normal on the road home at night. If she had to choose between finding Antoinette and meeting her demise versus leaving and living, she would choose to live. She was the first to admit to not being the most pious person, but even then she believed on weighing the costs. The servants were not under threat of execution from what she could understand and even if Renge did not have a heart Haruhi would wager that Tamaki did. Regardless of it all, she really wanted to find Antoinette.

"What would I do if I were a lost, sheltered dog in a maze of red?" Haruhi thought aloud, glancing about the practically bare red room she was sealed in, "_I_ would try to find my way back until I thought it was completely impossible and then would wait. However, I do not think _Antoinette _would do that."

Haruhi took some steps further until she was at yet another crimson doorway. With her hand firmly on the ruby knob she considered what she knew about Antoinette: blonde, brown eyes, nice but maybe too nice, and the closest thing Tamaki would ever have to a girlfriend. Well that certainly was not helpful. Thanks a lot Renge. Haruhi's grip tightened on the knob in frustration. How was she supposed to have any clue what this dog would do if she did not know a thing about it? At that very moment she considered slamming her head against the door—She thought it was the best idea she had all day.

The sound of the crack as her forehead slammed against the door was nothing compared to the force that reverberated throughout both the doorway and her body. It was painful, sure, but something about feeling the physical form of the pain that she had mentally from every visit to the castle was actually a little comforting. If nothing else, it helped her focus enough to finally twist the knob and walk on through.

Haruhi could almost only blink at what she saw next, "The roses…"

She was back in the hallway that may not have even been a hallway, the same one from her first trip to the castle. Well, she could not actually confirm that and there were probably lots of these around the red labyrinth but it might has well been the exact same hallway to her. The sun was higher than she expected, she noted, as she caught sight of it through the red openings. The roses in the surrounding gardens still had several hours of sun to soak up it seemed. It occurred to her that she would not have been surprised a bit if Tamaki popped out of any one of these bushes, probably with every bit as many thorns as when she first met him. The thought was both funny and unnerving.

Haruhi sighed, "If I was looking for that blonde idiot I would just look for rose bushes, but that dog—Is the closest thing he will ever have to a girlfriend."

Perhaps she knew more about Antoinette than she first thought.

"And who dates idiots again, especially blonde, rose bush idiots?" Haruhi continued, a smile forming on her face, "Other idiots, specifically other blonde, rose bush idiots!"

If Antoinette lived solely or even pretty much solely in Tamaki's room then the dog's only concept of normal had to be Tamaki, especially if it did not meet many other people. In fact, they probably had similar personalities to begin with. Tamaki actually kind of reminded her of a dog in some instances: an annoying, attention starved puppy. It was all coming together so well that she was surprised that she never considered it earlier. It even explained Renge's barking further. You had to do weird things to find a weird person, why would dogs be an exception? So if Tamaki could be found by looking for rose bushes, then so could Antoinette. Haruhi began to stake out her surroundings in more detail. To both her right and left were rose gardens, large ones at that, which there were numerous ones around the castle. Further, while the sun had not drooped as much as she had expected she was still on the clock. There was every chance that she could be wrong about all of her assumptions and even if they were true that she could not find Antoinette in time, but it was a chance that she was willing to take.

"Antoinette!" she cried, darting about the rose garden to her left before swiveling into the rose garden to her right, "Are you there!?"

Perhaps it was the wind, the desperation, or even the new found hope but when she crossed into the rose garden on her right she thought she heard rustling. Her eyes scanned around as quickly as she could until they narrowed in the direction she thought she heard the rustling from. Forget the sound, one of the bushes in particular moved like it was alive. She cautiously approached it as three thoughts in particular circled through her mind. True to her word, it occurred to her that Tamaki himself might pop out. She had not seen him that day after all. This all might have been a hallucination as well. She was trapped in an endless, red maze with no water and now she was under the beating sun. Finally, her mind also entertained the possibility that there were any number of weirdos in the castle and a serial killer might have been the most normal of them all. Normal or not, she did not want to meet this person. These three possibilities left little room for Antoinette to actually be in the rose bush, but she continued her cautious approach.

"Antoinette, is that you?" Haruhi asked, noting that an onlooker would think she was talking to the rose bush before her.

The bush froze and Haruhi mirrored it.

She knew she would regret it, but, "If that is you Tamaki, you better stay exactly where you are."

The threat fell on deaf ears.

"Arghhh!"

What struck her first was not the impact that hit her in the chest and now held her pinned to the ground. It was not the sound of her fall or her own cry. It was not even the sun and its heat that continued to beat down on her it. It was the smell.

"Ah, why does your breath smell like—dog breath?" Haruhi finished, her eyes finally open and staring into a similar pair of chocolate ones, "Blonde fur? Check. Brown eyes? Check. Nice if not too nice personality?"—A smelly, wet tongue slid across more than half her face—"Check. The closest thing Tamaki will ever have to a girlfriend? Well you hopped out of a rose bush. That is as close to a check as we are going to get."

Antoinette barked as if responding and all Haruhi could do was laugh. The pretty golden retriever above her was the best thing that could have been in that rosebush. For that matter, it also did not hurt that a dog could never be as creepy as a person. If Tamaki had ever attempted such a thing this story would have ended quite differently.

"Just what do you think you are doing here, Antoinette?" Haruhi questioned playfully, still looking the dog in its eyes, "We are both lost aren't we?"

The ensuing bark just made Haruhi laugh all the more.

"So much for my little guide dog." she chucked, finally petting her furry companion before eventually moving it enough so that she could get up.

"Now what is this?" Haruhi pondered aloud, her hands clasped around the dog's red fabric collar.

If she would have been anyone else she would have concentrated on Antoinette's license "tag" which was made out of actual ruby instead of metal. There were even rubies embedded in the fabric, but not nearly as large as the "tag" that had her name carved in it. All signs of an absolutely spoiled, royal pooch. Haruhi was actually concerned with the fabric and stitching of the collar itself. It was her father's after all. She never knew that he even attempted to make collars but she could always recognize his work and this was undoubtedly it. Here she thought that Tamaki and Renge were probably making silly requests to only throw away what her father made, but here was Antoinette wearing her father's collar. Perhaps Tamaki really was wearing specially made shirts and pants from her store and Renge even the dresses. The thought warmed her heart a little. These spoiled brats were probably the biggest pain in her life right now but just maybe they loved her father's work like she never could. For that, she could put up with them.

Woof!

Before Haruhi knew it Antoinette had taken off into a sprint with her hand still clasped around the dog's collar. She had no intentions of losing the animal so she had no plans to let go, but it was one thing to plan and quite another to be dragged about with no clue where she was going. Antoinette would pause just long enough at doorways for Haruhi to open them and then the dog was off, Haruhi unwillingly at her side. This kept on for far too long in Haruhi's opinion. She felt like she was drug across half the castle and where Antoinette did stop she had no clue where was. It occurred to her that it may have been Tamaki's room and that maybe Antoinette had not been as lost as she thought. The door was certainly big enough. While Antoinette had stopped at yet another doorway, she was acting differently this time. Usually she would wait with all paws on the floor and maybe a few barks of encouragement. Instead, she was on her hind legs whimpering and trying to open the door herself. While this struck Haruhi as odd, she was glad the run was over. She was panting enough as it was and maybe now she could be the one the drag Antoinette. Of course, if this was really his room she did not even have to do that much.

She did not have much choice in finding out though. Antoinette was more resourceful than either Haruhi or Renge gave her credit for. She had actually managed to open the door. Haruhi had not expected needing to release the collar so quickly and was blindsided once more as Antoinette dragged her inside. It certainly was not Tamaki's room. It was much, much worse.

Haruhi could hardly contemplate what she was seeing at first. On her left was no other than Tamaki. He was seated beside an older gentlemen that looked vaguely similar. They both wore ruby studded crowns and were in obviously formal attire, quite the rarity for Tamaki when he was around her. On her right was another older man with a crown and formal attire, but with two younger men and they were all garbed in yellow which was quite the contrast in the overwhelming red room. The room itself was a large one with a long, wooden table in the center. Around it were many chairs but the men sitting there were on either sides of it. Red to the left and yellow to the right. She finally recognized that the young men in yellow looked exactly like the man she had met earlier that day. She did not know his name or theirs. And all of these men were now staring directly at her. She was no fool, but she really did not want to accept that she had just interrupted a royal meeting between Hearts and Diamonds.


	5. Chapter 4

The Color of the Passionate and Passionless

Chapter 4, A Call to Roseland

Suits was a land of many colors. However, each time this great land was divided so were its colors. Hearts was red. Diamonds was yellow. Spades was blue. And finally, Clubs was green. Technically Spades also had purple and Diamonds had orange, but if you were to ask any person in Suits he or she could tell you which land was red, blue, yellow, or green. That bit of basic knowledge was taught to every child in the great land, but if you asked Haruhi there was something missing from this education. Every look at her yellow cloth convinced her more so of this. As a child she was taught the word yellow. Not only that one, but blue, green, and of course red, too. But words were exactly that. She had never seen the color yellow. There were those that had golden strands of blonde hair in her class, but that was never taught to her to be yellow. Nothing had been really, because it was all red in Hearts. The quandary she had with this though is that she never truly knew what red was until she knew _yellow_. Red was everything and yellow, blue, green, purple, and orange were simply words.

The saddest part about this is that while she knew red was not everything now, she was in the minority. The Countries of Suits did not communicate as much as one might think. They traded and the royalty met when it was necessary, but outside of Heart of Vermillion no Hearts citizen could ever seriously expect to meet a citizen of another color. Even then travel was both a privilege and duty of the nobility concentrated in the capital. The system may have not been designed by the rule it produced, but it was very true that only wealth bought the experience of color. What is worse is that she had heard it was worse in some of the other countries, though also better in one case. Of course, she had no clue which ones because it was only mentioned in passing. Haruhi had no clue what was going on in Clubs, Spades, or Diamonds and no normal Hearts citizen did either. The difference between the two is that they were happy in their little, red bubble.

Haruhi on the other hand wanted nothing more than to burst that bubble. Perhaps it would be painful, at first and even further on, but with the pain would come a delight that they might never have known. Her first step to bursting that bubble she decided was to redesign how colors were taught in a simple yet radical way: to have examples of the colors that would be taught displayed. It was very simple really, even just having cloth like the one Haruhi had herself. A cloth of each color would be required when teaching the colors. This was entirely feasible as well since the countries did trade with one another and small pieces of cloth could not be very expensive. Even if a country wanted to regulate this foreign cloth it could simply be allowed for education purposes. It all seemed so easy to Haruhi, easy enough that she wondered why such as policy was not already in place in all the countries. Perhaps it was in a few for all she knew, but at the very least she knew it was not in Hearts and she intended to change that.

Still, her philosophical desire had to remain very much on hold at the moment. She was in quite the predicament after all. After she had found Antoinette the dog had gotten her into far more trouble than Renge ever could. Tamaki had tried to assure her that she was in no trouble at all at first, but not even a fool would believe that she would be free and clear of punishment. She had been asked, with no less force than a command, to wait in the hall until the meeting was over by the King of Hearts himself. They would figure out something to do with Antoinette themselves. Even the King of Diamonds had spoken to her by mentioning that they would try not to make her wait very long. Haruhi will not say he lied, he might have actually cut back quite a bit of time, but she had enough of a wait to contemplate this entire philosophy of hers and more. So be it the actual wait time or the adrenaline pumping through her veins as she waited to hear her fate, but she felt like she was shackled outside that door for days. Worse yet, the more she thought about it the more red everything looked.

To her relief, even that came to an end once the meeting was dismissed. The royalty of Diamonds left first, the king of which actually giving her a lively goodbye. His twin sons, she concluded, were a little colder in manner but their eyes were warm and playful. The royalty of Hearts soon followed, Antoinette leading the way to Haruhi's side. She had expected a punishment and she got one, but in a far more roundabout manner than she had expected. The king apologized for the wait and also the embarrassment Antoinette caused, even thanking her for finding the dog since Tamaki had reported her missing right before the meeting so neither of them had time to search. Apparently Antoinette could open doors and had on occasion. She may have not been an escape artist by trade, but the curious pup took all opportunities presented which included ones that required some feats on her part. While they had been worried, she also seemed to have an uncanny ability to find the prince when she wanted to and that was what she had done today. Tamaki even added that it was pretty amazing that this whole thing happened. As friendly as Antoinette was, this was the first time she brought anyone anywhere.

It was here that her fate was sealed and her punishment delivered. The king and prince might have been happy that someone brought Antoinette to them and had no intention to punish her, but they also had no intention to just let her go home. Dinner, they insisted, she had to stay for dinner. Upon the mere mention she explained that she lived in Roseland and that she was already late enough to start on the walk home for her to arrive after dark, but the prince had a solution. This so called solution was no other than a sleepover, in his own room no less. That was quickly modified by the king into a sleepover in Renge's room, a blow to the now dejected Tamaki, but the solution now had the royal seal of approval. Not only would Haruhi have to stay for a dinner, one she understood to be hosting not only the king, prince, and Renge, but the queen, jack, and the rest of the jack's family as well, but she would have to spend the night in the castle. Renge's room no less. She suspected it would be better than Tamaki's, but she also doubted that Renge would be eager to share her private space with the "common rabble." A punishment this was indeed.

The worst part of this punishment would not be Renge's hostility or Tamaki's potential lurking. It would not be the no doubt awkward dinner with people a world away from herself. It would not even be that this was the first time she had actually slept somewhere other than her home above her father's dress shop. It would be the call home. Haruhi fancied herself as an independent young woman and in practice she was, but one conversation with her father and one would suspect her of being a regular, dependent child. The catch here was that the dependency was all her father's own. He was technically a breadwinner since his shop was the source of their income, but if Haruhi were not his delivery girl she would be working elsewhere. Added to school, chores, and her general duty of keeping her father organized and on point and it would seem that the parent child relationship had actually reversed in their case. Perhaps it even had, but someone had yet to let her father in on the secret because he was quite protective of her, especially regarding male company. The mere thought of her spending the night in the castle, where plenty of young men including the prince roamed, would send him into raving fit. Haruhi would not even be surprised if he walked all the way to the castle as soon as their call ended, night or not. It made her hesitant to make the call in the first place. As much as she wanted to assure him she was okay and try to keep him from worrying she was pretty convinced that the call would only incite it. It actually crossed her mind not to call home at all, but she would at least do that much.

"Dad, I do not have much time so please just listen." she began with the red phone pressed against her ear, trying not to let him get a word in, "Something came up and I cannot make it home as early as normal. I am just going to stay the night in the capital and come home in the morning. I will be back in time to make lunch."—she could already hear him yelling in his two cents—"Bye!"

The click as she hung up was never so satisfying. She just hoped it was enough to keep him in Roseland until she got back. It would weigh on her mind the entire night but she currently had more pressing matters to deal with such as dinner with the Heart family. She would have never expected to have the privilege or burden of even meeting one of these people until her first delivery to the castle, but now she had even met some of the royalty of Diamonds even if it was in passing for the most part. On top of that she was sleeping away from home for the first time, in the castle no less. Haruhi's world was changing and she could only hope to keep up.


End file.
